>> workers on the march in cyprus as new details of the revised bailout deal emerge. talks between cypriot leaders and international lenders come to a head. we're live in both nicosia and brussels. you're watching al-jazeera live from london. shots -- shops close in the central african republic as people flee in advance of a rebel advance. tykeon berezovsky dies

london. and holy face time -- the pope embraces his predecessor during a historic meeting the >> so the one-off levy is off in cyprus, but it's back for accounts more than 130,000 dollars. that settle report. we are going to join harry smith in brussels shortly but first to the cypriot capital with the latest details on this particular deal. >> felicity, this is word emergeb -- emerging in the last 10 or so minutes. i can't tell you that anyone has come out and officially made an announcement here, but these are sources being quoted within the government, within meetings taking place at the

presidential palace, suggesting that they have reached agreement on that very controversial question about a deposit, a compulse or pi eposit tax and what -- compulsory deposit tax. they are proposing 20% of accounts over $130,000 in the bank of cyprus and 4% on the other banks in the sector, bank, the ean lyki second biggest. in theory, these two deposit haircuts won't require another vote, so this makes up another total package, including the plan to save the banks, wind them up and save the cost of recapitalizing, that the cypriots can take on sunday to the euro group and finance mirnses and the i.m.f., based

on closed-door meetings that have been going on all day with the troika and say here's our compromise, give us the bail out so we can get opened. it looks like cyprus now is tantalizingly close to a deal. but it it won't come without significant pain for many. peter sharp has this report. >> the people of cyprus had endured a week of increasing uncertainty. as the talks dragged on they took to the streets for yet another night to voice their fears and frustrations. >> if they don't realize that we have strength and we will fight, if they lead us to a dead end, we will be out on the street with strikes. >> many of these people face the imminent loss of their jobs as the island's banking sector is stripped down and restructured as part of 9 conditions for the you're not

-- doctor of the european union bailout. working here for years, now i risk being throughout out on the street with my family. all of this is happening because of the union, which is a german union. >> earlier, financial officials met with representatives of the troika, i.m.f. and european central bank officials met to wade through the fine print in a deal that could spare the island nation bankruptcy. there was a glimpse of opttism -- optimism from the prime minister. >> we have to be very careful to safeguard the banking system so the banks can reopen on tuesday. we want everything done in such a way as to be very clear. >> what these people want now is a simple answer -- will the deal get through? will cyprus be be saved?

if a vote is necessary, it will be taken here at the country's parliament. e decision on the bailout is going right down throughout out on the street with my to the the wire, and it's this uncertainty that's made this week such a nightmare for the people. peter sharp, al-jazeera in nicosia. >> and are it's been such an people there in the capital? >> for every cypriot it's been a quite dreadful week, a quite unexpected week as time, hasn't ordinary well. nobody saw the announcement that was made last weekend coming, an announcement that in its original form involved quite a substantial deposit, cut, tax off every cypriot in this country, off every savings. in every bank account, big or small. that caused such a wave of

worry and uncertainty that simply got bigger and bigger as the week went on. of course the original bailout plan was vote done tuesday night -- down tuesday night and since then there's been one rumor after another. the key thing here is a cast-iron deadline was put in lace by the-iron -- by the central bank last wednesday or they will withdraw their lick widity, their funding, so people have had the very real fear that in the worst case they might lose everything the now they can take some hope that at -- on sunday or at least monday they will have news that at least portions of the economy will be saved. >> let's take you now to brussels and speak to al-jazeera's harry smith. the finance ministers are

likely to discuss this possible deal on sunday in >> i must say it's interesting to hear what he had to say. word hasn't reached us yet. it may have reached the bureaucrats in the building behind us. the lights are still on and talks have been talk dunk taking place behind closed doorkss as jonah said. e know there's been a lot of conferencing and video conferencing between the troika, the -- and the last we heard was that there is still confirmation that meetings will take place here tomorrow, sunday, but meetings are scheduled and i think the fact that they were scheduled and scheduled some days in advance suggests that there was a

degree of optimism even if there is no public display of optimism and there was a degree of optimism that some sort of deal would be made and we know it has to be made by monday. at's the date by which the european confirmation that meet will central banks' drip-drip of funding to cyprus would cease. so what we think might happen, and as i say, we've had no confirmation of this yet, is that there will be a meeting dellation ads of the cyprus tomorrow, sunday. there will also be a meeting of the 17 finance ministers of the countries who make up the euro zone and some of them plight be quite hard to persuade. they've demanded all along that cyprus has to contribute something to this bailout. germany in particular has been sure cyprus contributes something to the bailout.

angela merkel is facing an election next year and she knows the people who will decide the next government are beginning to lose patience with he southern european countries, who as far as they can see, seem to constantly need bailouts. a lot of work still needs to be word is that there is progress from nicosia and we will see a deal signed. rebels in the central african republic have told jars they have entered the capital of beng wi. later reports suggest power has been cut off. joined now from do harr by andrew simmons. he himself has extensively covered the conflict in central african republic.

what's the latest you are hearing? >> well, you're right. the rebels do appear to be in the cap toole. loud explosions of gun fire was heard on the main road 75 city. ers outside of the this took place in a situation whereby government forces were evidencely not able to repel them. there have been helicopter attacks on the column on friday and there was some sort of regroup,, some sort of weekend -- window in which many had thought there was going to be time boff the bebles convenience -- advanced to the capital itself. that did not happen and they pushed forward and we heard of the first prime ministers of the country for foreign affairs. >> the coupe attempt by the sealeca -- seleka rebels is still underway.

we can only condemn in attempt to take power by force. it should be condemned by the african union and all other organizations. i don't understand why we are making such a big deal about the presence of south african troops. they're a member of the african union and currently helping central african forces. there is a lot of suffering at the moment. the rebels have cut the power to the plant that provides electricity to the capital. beng wi -- bangui has been without power for six hours. this is the kind of people you want to establish democracy? we are very sorry to see what is happening in our country. >> what are you getting from the rebels themselves? >> the rebels are saying that they want bozize to leave the country immediately and are calling on his army to surrender. they claim they will moving for

the presidential palace. it remains to be seen how much opposition there will be the the prime minister has called desist from to fighting and enter into a new peace dialogue. the rebels say it's too little, too late, concessions from president bozize, to free political prisoners and it does appear that these rebels are intent on going all the way. however, the presidential guard have engaged in some areas but it would appear they haven't engaged outside the presidential palace itself. bozize has appealed to all of his government to thake -- take shelter, some inside the presidential palace, some in foreign embassies. the united nations hasn't official wills announced this yet but they have already

started operations to evacuate nonessential staff. whether or not bozize's forces will surrender remains to be seen but the warning is that there could be a bloodbath here. people in this impoverished nation have suffered so much with so many failed peace agreements. this is yet another and effectively another coup d'etat. it's a miserable situation for the people of the i didn't and they moment incredibly dangerous. >> we'll keep an eye on ecents en -- events there. for the moment, thanks very much. > france has confirmed that an al qaeda linked war lord was killed in february. accused of kidnapping foreigners to raise ranso.

foreign policy cheep kathryn ashton said the e.u. is committed to finding a political solution to stop the bloodshed in syria the >> of course we're looking to see how best we can increase assistance to the political groups and we continue to put as much pressure as probably -- possible and to increase our pressure on the regime to put pressure to participate in a meaningful political process. >> a funeral more a top supporters of foreign policy ch ashton said the e.u. is committed to finding a political solution president as has taken place in damascus. more than 41 people died in the explosion. the government blamed rebel fighters for the attack. plenty more still to come on

al-jazeera, including a tornado that left death and destruction.

>> hello again, a reminder of the main stories here. a orts that an agreement for 20% tax on accounts over $130,000 in cyprus and 4% on others. nd the funeral of a main supporter of president assad

has taken place in damascus. putin's most -- biggest critics has been found lead in london. berezovsky's death is being treated as a suicide. emma, has there been any sort of reaction yet to boris berezovsky's death in russia? >> yes, in the last few hours, fell he isity. putin's press secretary goes on russian tv and said berezovsky had written to the president in recent months saying he wanted to come back to russia and he was apologizing for the mistakes he had made. of course we have no verification of that from the

peam amend -- family and reaction to this will very much depend on which side of the fence people sit on. to some he was very much a hero, he fought against putin, but to others they say he didn't seem like that at all. >> yeah, just talk us through why he was so famous and well known. he had been for many years the very heart of power in russia, hadn't he? >> absolutely, felicity, and he had a real fall from grace here, if you like. he started as a mathematician, then made millions and millions importing and selling mercedes cars. he helped propel borlis yeltsin to power and then helped get putin into a position to take power again. but when putin decided he didn't want to see the oligarches in control any more, the relationship between the wo really sewered. he ended up in self-imposed

exile and has been one of the strongest critics of putin ever since. for the moment. , police are saying it's an unexplained death. >> emma, thanks so much. former pakistani prime minister usharraf has vowed to return to his homeland in spite of death threats. he also risks possible arrest or -- over the murder of an ex-prime minister. speaking in dubai, the infomercial four- -- the former four-star general said the threats don't bother him. >> they've been trying to accepted me to hell for years now. they weren't -- haven't been able to do that. these statements could be planted even. for that matter, they may be true or untrue. so if i'm not the kind to get

scared of mere statements. > pakistani cricket legend ran khan has rallied 150,000 supporters at the launch of his election campaign in lahore. he hopes a weave of support from young middle class pakistanis will give his campaign a boost, paving the way for him to become prime minister. in bangladesh, the number of people killed in friday's tornado has climbed to 20. the tornado ripped through villages in the earn district. it lasted 20 minutes and uprooted trees and over 500 homes from damaged and thousands of people left homeless. u.s. prpt -- u.s. president barack obama has let jordan at the end of his visit to the middle east. the white house had set low expectations for this trip.

the main purpose seemed to be reasewering israel that the u.s. is a committed ally. looking back now on president obama's four-day tour. >> looking at the pictures you might think president obama was simply on holiday, touring the ancient city of petra in jordan. in israel, marveling at the dead sea scrolls. but these visits were carefully crafted events meant to send a message to israelis about his correction -- connection to the land they believe dates back to biblical times. the support is believed to be what pushed israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu to apologize to turkish prims recep tayyip erdogan about the raid. supporters at the israeli expandoes killed nine turks aboard an aid ship

carrying activists trying to end the blockade against the -- against the gaza strip. >> it's in the interest of the united states that they begin this process of getting their relationship back in order. >> the entire focus of the president's trip was to strengthen his often tense relationship with the israeli leadership, but it had the opposite effect on the palestinians. many protested against his stop in ramallah, where the u.s. president continued to back away from his initial call for an end to the israeli settlements. >> his weak position at this point means that he's practically destroying the solution he is calling for. >> but the president did for the first time talk about what life is like for the palestinians under occupation. he did this not in ham -- ramallah but in a speach to israeli students. >> it's not right to prevent palestinians from farming their

lands or restricting a student's ability to move around the west bank or displace palestinian families from their homes. neither occupation nor expulsion is the answer. >> an argument often heard in the region but rarely in the u.s. and never delivered by the u.s. president is an indication of obama's naw approach -- push the israeli people to demand peace. while hezz -- his new secretary of state, john kerry, returns to israel saturday. as the president leaves he leaves behind slightly mended relationships, his with israel and israel's with turkey, aid to refugees, and a peace process that shows no sign of going anywhere. >> there have been clashes in leb abonn -- lebanon following the surprise resignation of the prime minister.

his departure threatens to dangerous political void. >> the prime minister handed his resignation -- to the lebanese president. it has left many lebanese wondering what is going to happen next. >> i don't think it's going to matter much. they keep on changing but it's the same. i worry about problems happening between people. resign nk governments and are it has left many reassi business goes on as usual. >> some are trying to stay hopeful the party's move could pave the way for a unity government but most don't have such hope. one said the party just bandoned ship.

ne accusation accused him of succumbing to pressure to start a fight with hezbollah. a few asked, why now? there is consensus here the root of the crisis lies in the syrian conflict, which has pole orized lebanese and crippled government. for now his cabinet will continue to run the country as caretakers until a new government is formed, but neither camp in lebanon has the numbers in parliament -- parliament to form a government alone. tensions are on the rise and have turned into clashes in some areas, like northern tripoli. the war is raging with no end very ht and that makes is difficult to see the lebanese factions coming together at a

time in other forces in the area are mobilidesing for more confrontation. >> teams are searching what is left of a refugee camp in thailand after fire killed more than 42 people. the fire swept through the camp over night. about 100 thatched huts were destroyed in the blaze, thought to have been caused by a cooking accident. more than 3,000 refugees lived in the camp. they fled fighting in myanmar. and at least 20 people have been killed since violence broke out wednesday between budists and minority muslims. whole neighborhoods have been burned down as rival groups with knives and sticks rioted. over 2,000 people are living in temporary shelters because of the violence. now, for the first time, two ving leaders of the catholic

choimp have met. pope francis is and pope benedict talked in a closed doors encounter outside rome. >> he greeted the -- pope francis as he got off the helicopter. the two men got in a car together and rode to the chap -- chapel where they held prayer together. it's never happened in the history of the catholic church and despite the fact that the vatican has said there will be no public appearances, many here are hoping they will see the two popes. >> it's fun to be this close to his summer home and know that benedict is inside. it's a positive thing to come here for. >> but the two men have very serious matters to scandal. the pope has asked for an

investigation and there was a report that was put in place when benedict abdicated and handed over to pope francis a few days ago.